Cops: Con man faked blindness to steal $9,000 ring

Published: May 15, 2014 2:35PM

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A suspected con man who allegedly uses fake cashier's checks to buy vehicles, electronics and jewelry has been charged with stealing a $9,000 diamond ring from a Pittsburgh jewelry store the same way --while also pretending to be blind.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (http://bit.ly/RUsXxz ) reports the suspect, 47-year-old Taurus Centaur, of McHenry, Maryland, has been jailed in Georgia, one of seven states where a Pennsylvania state police alert say he's suspected of crimes.

Police say Centaur used the name Joseph Carroll when he called Goldstock Diamonds in February and claimed to be a blind man who needed help from an expert jeweler to buy an engagement ring. Centaur arrived at the store the next day wearing fancy clothes, and a blind man's cane and sunglasses and paid with a cashier's check that later turned out to be fake.